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PRISCILA SALLOUM, PHD

Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Zoology, University of Otago

I am fascinated by the genomic mysteries that underlie the existence of biodiversity - with a soft spot for molluscs.

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MY RESEARCH

A few keywords

Genome assembly, Nanopore sequencing, Illumina sequencing, metagenomics, differential gene expression, genotyping by sequencing, microbiomes, landscape genomics, population genomics, quantitative genetics, geometric morphometrics.

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WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE MICROBIOME IN PARASITE-HOST INTERACTIONS?

Parasites have the remarkable ability to manipulate the behaviour/phenotype of their hosts. This has long been seen as a two-player interaction between parasites and their hosts. However, more and more we learn about the importance of microbiomes in all aspects of biology, and in this case, microbes might have an important role to play in this complex parasite-host interaction. In my freshest role as a Postdoc in the Parasitology lab group at the University of Otago, I am applying metagenomics tools to characterise the microbiome composition in helminth parasites and in their hosts. I will then check for correlations between presence and abundance of specific microbes and changes in the phenotype or behaviour of parasitised animals, and later use metabolomics to look for specific metabolites that might be made by microbes and play a role in the parasite-host interaction.

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GENETIC AND PHENOTYPIC VARIATION OF A MARINE MOLLUSC

In my PhD, I combined different types of data and analyses to look at the distribution of neutral and adaptive variation in populations of etched chitons distributed across a latitudinal environmental gradient in New Zealand and its Sub-Antarctic Islands. For example, I compared single molecular markers from the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA with large panel of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms distributed genome-wide, as well as shell shape data extracted with geometric morphometric analyses. I learned and used varied approaches, including genome scans, gene-environment association tests, phylogenetics, quantitative genetics, and population genomics. Check out my findings in my publication list.

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GENOMICS AND ETCHED CHITONS

Etched chitons (Onithochiton neglectus) have unique features that lead to intriguing questions: how can they be so broadly distributed? How can they survive long-distance travels in the holdfast of giant seaweed, trespassing environmental boundaries as they get transported for thousands of kilometers? What conserved vs polymorphic regions in their genome can tell us about populations evolving with higher and lower rates of gene flow? To target a few of these questions, I am assembling the genome of this remarkable mollusc (using this tiny DNA sequencing device that I am holding on the photo!), to combine it with population genomics insights from my PhD. I am also assembling its transcriptome, and looking at differences in gene expression in response to heat. 

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BIO

BSc and teaching degree in biology from the State University of Campinas (Brazil)

MSc in Molecular Biology and Evolution from the State University of Campinas (Brazil), looking at population genetics of a common periwinkle over spatial and temporal scales

PhD in Biological Sciences from The University of Auckland (New Zealand), looking at the population genomics and shell shape of a chiton that can hitchhike in the holdfast of kelp

Current postdoc at the University of Otago (New Zealand), using genomics to find microbes inside parasites, to understand if microbes are linked to modifications in the phenotype of the parasite`s hosts - ultimately linked to phenotypic diversification.

Postdoc at the University of Auckland (New Zealand), assembling the whole genome of the NZ etched chiton, in combination with gene expression analyses to better understand how natural selection and thermal tolerance have shaped its evolution, and how climate change could affect it.


Learn more about my work by checking out my current projects and past publications.

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CONTACT ME

Paewai ki Tua o Kairangi, Postdoctoral Fellow
Te Tari Mātai Kararehe, Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou
Department of Zoology, University of Otago

orcid.org/0000-0001-7725-2263

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